Wayward Shurikens
by ExplosiveNoteNinja
Summary: OCish. A girl whose memory was erased by Orochimaru is after Sasuke, because killing the Ex-sannin was her job, apparently. Assigned to capture her, things get complicated when the Jincurrikis temper snaps...NO PAIRINGS! ESPECIALLY NOT KAKANARU, DAMMIT!
1. Appearance

**Disclaimer: I don't own the manga or anime I use here. Well, actually, since I made up a new character, she's mine, no stealing. But everything else is NOT MINE. Kay? Kay. :P**

Summary: A strange new warrior has appeared on the horizon, a shinobi who knows almost nothing about her past. All she knows is the name of a village she is, or was, somehow connected to-Konoha. That, and the urge to destroy the man who took her memory from her, Orochimaru. As she travels, word reaches her that someone has all ready done Orochimaru in. She sets her sights instead on the village he comes form, wandering until she finds it. In the very village, Naruto and his newly reunited team are briefed on a mission involving an old student of Kakashi's, who they suspect has been hanging around the border, for whatever reason. The girl is after Sasuke, intending to defeat the one who took away her only goal from her...

**READ THIS PEOPLE!: **Um, okay, so just to get it out of the way before hand-

I did make the new character, but she is in no way in the actual Naruto series. I tried to avoid putting spoilers in here at all costs, but there are a few, regarding Sasuke and Sai. Please don't flame me if you're offended by something in here, because I really didn't mean to. I'm sorry if I seem like a jerk for adding in a new character, but it was honestly the only plot bouncing around in my head at the time and I had to get it down. I'll bet that in two weeks from now, I'll think of something else with only the original characters and I'll want to hit my head against a wall for not coming up with it earlier. " CONSTRUCTIVE criticism is appreciated, don't just tell me you hate or you like it, tell me why. Thank you.

Wayward Shurikens:

Part 1

**Prologue**

**Present day. No territory named.**

The sun was almost at it's peak, glaringly bright and sizzling hot. A trepid breeze caught hold of wandering particles of dust and crushed gravel and tossed them around lazily, pooling and circling and trickling across the ground in no particular direction. It seemed as though the wind was simply too bored to do anything that day.

The black, shapeless blot on the horizon steadily made progress, growing and taking form, until, if there had been anyone else in the deserted patch of land right then, they would've been able to make out a woman. Her golden-blonde hair shifted slightly with the puffs of air, and her eyes were half-closed against the dust. Beneath her eyelashes, lightly shaded brown eyes seemed to stare out at the world, never deviating from the direction she was headed in. It was obvious she was a shinobi by the way she carried herself, and for those less prone to notice such things, by the small pack of kunai and shuriken she carried at her hip. Although a wakizashi bumped against her left leg and a long katana was sheathed across her back, no one could mistake her for any kind of samurai. It was apparent she was on a mission, and that enemies against her village would not be treated kindly. But what _was _her village?

She was a ninja, but she was strangely lacking a headband.

As she walked, the wind picked up, so that the trees shook minutely and the leaves trembled. The traveler paused. Leaves...Quickly, she shook her head. None of that mattered now. They wouldn't remember her. A point had been made that all files of her ever existing had been destroyed. Six years ago, she had disappeared from the town without a trace. Not of her doing or by her will, but what could you do? That fact was that she had been a Konoha shinobi once.

Once. But no more.

"Damn it," she muttered. Her pace increased, and the intensity of the wind responded to her growing frustration. Some of the thinner trunks of the forest giants subtly bent, and a few leaves were scattered to the ground. She tilted her gaze upwards, and without thinking, she stretched out her hand and snatched a leaf out of the air. Staring at it, her eyes narrowed and her mouth formed into a snarl. Slowly, her knuckles curled, and then her angry fist snapped shut. The thoughts that always haunted her broke through her defensive line and laughed in her face.

-

"_You left them, they never came looking for you!"_

_"No! I didn't abandon...I would never leave the Leaf Village!" That was her, desperate to hear her own reassurance._

_The man that was her nemesis laughed cruelly. "You did," he hissed, delight sparking in his evil yellow eyes. "You did. And obviously, they couldn't care less. You told us that you would rather die then let us bring you here. You fought and lost. And yet, you can never seem to push it far enough to either break free or uphold your word."_

_"Shut up!"_

_Laughing again, high and hysterical and mad. "I should take mercy on you. You've been very useful to us. How about I make all the memories disappear, hmmmm?"_

_Out of nowhere, the five bastards that served him grabbed at her arms and shoved her down. "Get off!" She kicked out furiously, smirking as one, the one with six arms, crumpled and grunted. She had met her mark, and the explosion of chakra channeled through her foot had added to her attack. Struggling furiously, the twelve-year-old kunoichi snarled and attempted to free herself. The one with the glasses stalked up to her and jabbed his finger at her forehead. Instantly, she couldn't move. _

_"My, my, what did you ever think you could _do_ with her?" he questioned, pushing his glasses back up the bridge of his nose. "She's been giving us troubles for the past three years. Why can't I just kill her?"_

_"You've always been impatient," the tall man chuckled, "You seem to have completely forgotten how much information she's recently acquired for us." He tilted his head to smirk at the girl. _"Those eyes of hers," _he thought absently,_ "Always so defiant."

_"Does it make a difference?"_

_"It does." He sighed, almost happily. "The Chuunin exams!" he whispered, a terrible grin creeping over his features. "And Uchiha Sasuke!"_

_"I see," replied his henchman, turning his attention back to the enraged girl at his feet, still being held down by the Sound Five. "So, you want me to erase it?"_

_"Yes." The soft _tap, tap, tap, tap_ of his sandals reverberated around the cavern. The pointed, grinning white face became level with hers, and she had to bite back a shrudder as a cold hand settled on top of her head. _

_"What are you bastards planning on doing with me?" she hissed. The man laughed again, softly, like a snake's hiss._

_"I'm afraid, my dear girl," he said, enjoying every word. "That you will never be a Konoha ninja again. You won't remember..." He paused. "Anything."_

_Horrified, she could only watch as he stepped back and let the medical ninja come forward, his entire hand a-glow with chakra._

"No..."_ She thought. The hand reached down and smothered her face. She strained frantically, willing her arms and legs to work again. The chakra was pouring into her nose, her mouth, suffusing her eyes until she could barley breathe. Faintly, she heard one, then two, then all of the ninja pressing down on her beginning to laugh. _

_Something old and powerful snapped inside her. The stirring of chakra in her body rushed and flared. She let go of the hold on conciseness, and fury took over. She exploded up off of the floor, howling and clawing at anything her hands found. Chakra, bright and green, poured out of her body, cascading across the floor and attacking the hated, hated people who had tormented her for so long. At last, it seemed, the full ability of her family had shown itself._

_Blood splashed around her feet and she dashed among them, creating havoc. At last, the only one left standing was the man...Not bothering to kill any of her victims, she clenched her fists and turned her burning green gaze on their leader._

"_I will kill you." The words rasped out of her throat, and she pointed her index finger at him. "I will kill you one day. Right now, I want to take my leave of this damned place. Make sure you don't get screwed before then. You are mine."_

_Having said so, she blew open a hole in the wall and vanished._

-

She didn't want to remember anymore. It was all she _could_ remember about her past. Kabuto had destroyed enough of her memory by the time she fought back. Now all she knew was the name of the Leaf Village, and the urge to destroy the asshole who had done this too her.

Screaming in sudden rage, she flung the leaf away form herself and turned on the speed. The wind transformed into a torrent, a miniature cyclone, whipping around insanely. A cloud of dust followed her as she ran, so fast she was a blur of one single color, green, streaking across the no-mans-lands.

"Damn him!" she howled. "Damn him...Damn you! Damn you..." Finally, her eyes were swallowed by the furious jade.

"...Orochimaruuuuuuuu!!!!!!!!"

-

**Chapter 1**

**Approximately 2 months ago, Konoha. **

The yellow, spiky haired boy stood there dumbly and gaped, attempting to think of something significant to say. Eventually, Naruto couldn't stand it any more and exploded, shouting at the top of his lungs.

"Sasuke beat Orochimaru!? Are you serious!?" he pumped a fist in the air, grinning. "Yes! Now, he can come back to the Leaf village, right? He's going to come back, right?!"

Tsunade winced and stuck a finger in her right ear. "Clam down, Naruto."

"This is so awesome!"

Sakura nodded enthusiastically. "Right! Now Sasuke-kun can be with us again!"

Tsunade sighed and shook head sadly. Sakura's smile slowly vanished, and Naruto stopped dancing. "I don't think that's the case at the moment, you two."

"Wha...What do you mean?" Naruto spread his hands wide and smiled wobbly. "He's done with Orochimaru, right? So why wouldn't he come back? I mean, he knows we'll help him with his revenge, doesn't he?"

Sakura looked down at the floor. "He...he doesn't want any help. He thinks he can do it on his own."

"Right." The Hokage nodded. "So far, the ANBU Black-Ops have had a hard time tracking his movements, but we do know that he's headed to what looks like an old settlement area. We have reasons to suspect he'll be recruiting some of Orochimaru's old henchmen and...experiments." She grimaced.

"Why does he want their help, then!?" Naruto shouted.

Tsunade sighed. "Probably to help with avoiding you all."

His fist clenched. "That...that bastard..." His eyes narrowed and the light of challenge shone in them. "Well, we'll find him anyway!"

-

**Present day again, Konoha.**

It was a long while later, during a completely different meeting, after a long chase across the Rice country and a mission including many of Naruto's friends that Sasuke Uchiha was with them.

"A mission!" Naruto exclaimed. "Oi, Sasuke, with you here, it's just like Team Kakashi all over again, huh?"

Sasuke rolled his eyes and showed no excitement on his apathetic face. "Hn."

Naruto snorted and punched him in the shoulder. "You know, I'm starting to wonder why we missed you so much," he joked. Sakura resisted the urge to hit him over the head, and Kakashi sighed, flipping the page in his book.

"Please don't start something, Naruto," he said in a bored way. "Let's just get through this mission without any arguing, okay?"

"Yes sir!" responded Naruto.

Tsunade entered the room and took her seat. "Hello, all." Reaching for vile of sake, she opened up her record book and scanned the pages. "Are you ready for your mission?"

"YES!" Naruto shouted.

"Baka," muttered Sakura. Tsunade simply sighed and took another drag of her drink.

"Well, Naruto, I think you'll be happy with this one, at least. It's an A-rank."

Naruto's ocean-blue eyes flew open and he laughed happily. "Awesome!"

"Why are you always so excitable?" someone across the room asked. Three heads turned to see the newcomer, and Naruto smiled.

"Sai! What're you doing here?"

Sai looked at him. "I'm here for the mission, of course. I am part of Team Kakashi now, you know." He walked over and stood by Sakura. "So, what is it? What are we doing that's so important?"

"Well," Tsunade ran her finger down the list in her book and stopped. "It looks like it's pretty serious. The ANBU have spotted traces of a powerful ninja around the border...All clues seemed to be accompanied by sudden storms and huge gusts of wind...green chakra..." She stopped, running her eyes across the page rapidly. Kakashi didn't look up, but he paused in mid-sentence on the page of his book. Only a for a second, before resuming his read. No one noticed.

"Green chakra?" Sasuke spoke up. "Is there such a thing?" You could tell he didn't believe it.

"Well, why not?" Sai said. "Naruto had red chakra sometimes..."

"But...but that would mean..." Sakura trailed off, staring at Naruto. Two more pairs of eyes rested on their orange-suited companion. Naruto was watching Tsunade impatiently, unaware of what they were thinking of.

"Come on!" he demanded finally. "Tell us about the mission!"

"Tsunade-sama." Sakura stepped forward. "Is this person a...a Jinchurriki?" Naruto whipped around, startled.

"...No." Sai let out a breath of relief, and Tsunade continued. "Her chakra is strange, but, if I remember correctly, there is one person in the village who knows a little bit about her."

"Her?" Sasuke raised an eyebrow. If it had been anyone else, Sakura would've knocked them through the wall. But as it was, this was Sasuke, so all she said was something along the lines of, "You don't think girls are strong, Sasuke-kun?"

"You shouldn't underestimate your opponent." Kakashi looked up and moved form where he was leaning nonchalantly against the wall to stand on the right side of Naruto. "Don't discriminate against them until you actually fight. I've had some close calls fighting kunoichi, believe it or not."

"Hn."

"So, who is this person who knows something?" Said asked thoughtfully.

Tsunade turned in her seat. "I think you remember her, right Kakashi?"

Kakashi showed no surprise. Instead, he stated, "That depends if I knew her."

"You did." Handing a folded slip of paper to Kakashi, Tsunade pressed her lips into a thin line.

Kakashi unfolded the paper and froze. The four other crowded around to see the profile picture of the kunoichi wearing a green sash, a white t-shirt with crisscrossing webs of jade and black lines, kaki pants and the standard blue shinobi sandals. Slung over her back was a long katana, and at her waist was a sheathed wakizashi. Her eyes were a light brown ringed with black, and her hair was mix of golden and blonde that fell slightly past her shoulders. A long band of black went under her arms at the top of her shirt near her neck, and the Konoha leaf symbol gleamed. None of them had ever seen anybody wear their headband like that, tied at the back and under the arms. The girl looked to be about nine or ten years old. She was smiling.

"Who is that?" Naruto asked Kakashi. For a moment, he said nothing. Then, he folded the paper four ways again and stuck it in his pocket.

"Her name is Moriko," he said quietly. "I thought she was dead, she disappeared about seven years ago. She was a student of mine."


	2. Revealed

Wayward Shurikens:

Part 2

**Chapter 2**

"I don't know anything! Now get outta my shop!" The sake seller stood there, firm and his jaw clenched.

Moriko sighed. _"This man is a very good liar,"_ she thought. Her hand crept to the hilt of her wakizashi and she drew it, slow and deliberate, and the man's eyes bulged.

"You'll scare my customers away," he said, looking uncertain. "Leave."

"That'd be true," Moriko agreed. She directed the point of the blade at the man's heart. "If you had any today." It was true. The shop was completely empty. The sole reason she had even bothered to come in here (seeing as she didn't drink) was the faint, nearly undetectable trace of Kabuto's chakra. If she found Kabuto, she found Orochimaru.

A single bead of sweat began to trickle down the side of his face. "C-customer confidentiality."

She smiled, triumphant and frightening. "So he was here. When?"

"I don't remember!"

"You should."

The shop keeper blinked, staring about the store. Where had she gone?

"Are you going to tell me?"

He gasped. The ice cold line of steel was pressed lightly against his throat. Immediately, he started babbling out as much information as he could remember. "The guy with the glasses and the silver hair came in for a drink about a month and a half ago! He just sat there with his hood up, he didn't even take a sip of his sake! He left me the payment on the bar counter and then he just walked out of here-I don't know where he's going, he turned left onto the street. That's all the information I have, I swear!"

For a moment, Moriko simply stood there, the sword in her hand still dangerously close to the pulse throbbing in the man's neck. Kabuto had been here a while ago, going west. Mentally, she swore. This was the closest she'd gotten in a long time.

"One more question." The man gargled in protest but said nothing. "What do you know about a man named Orochimaru?"

Hope suddenly flared to life on his face. "Orochimaru! He was one of the three Legendary Sannin of Konoha, and he attacked the place about three years ago. But recently word has been going around that he's dead-"

"What?" Moriko interrupted him sharply. "He's _dead_?"

A drop of blood ran down his neck. Wrong answer! "He-he was k-killed a wh-while ago, I heard! T-two months ago, I think!"

"Who did it?" If she hadn't been right there to hiss it in his ear, he wouldn't have heard her.

"Some guy! I don't know!" he wailed, "'U' something! Um, Ura...Uzu...Uchiha! That's it!" He said loudly, relieved. "Uchiha Sasuke!"

A menacing snarl sounded in his ear, and for a second, the man was sure his life was over. But then he heard her mutter, "Thanks." The paper door to the shop rattled, a breeze ran through the shop, and he was alone again.

Panting heavily, the sake seller got a hold on himself and turned back behind his counter. In few hours it would be lunch time and people would enter his shop-he decided to simply forget about the entire incident.

-

The entire room was still. After a breathless second, Sai commented, "Oh, well, that can't be good."

Sakura nodded. "Kakashi-sensei, I thought me, Naruto, and Sasuke were the only students you've had."

"You were," Kakashi sighed mentally. "At least you were my only official students. After she asked to learn from me, I taught her ninjutsu and taijutsu and even a little bit of genjutsu, but it was never recorded that I was her real mentor. There was no three-man squad or anything. She simply showed up one day in the forest and asked me to teach her."

"Did you give her the bell test?"

"No. I challenged her to take my book from me."

Naruto laughed. "I'll bet she lost, huh?"

"Nope." Kakashi withdrew the little orange novel for them to see. "See that scratch in the top corner?" They nodded. It was barley there, but if you looked closely enough, you could see it. "Moriko made that when she grabbed it out of my hands. I think I went to easy on her, not expecting her to know even any taijutsu. But even then she was fast."

"Fast?" Sasuke said, a hint of scorn in his voice. "How fast could she be?"

Tsunade admonished him, "I have some notes on that, at least. Moriko, at ten years old, was fast enough not to need the chakra training, and that helped her when using her specialty techniques. Elemental attacks and beast transformations."

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "It won't matter. Our mission is to find her, right?"

She nodded. "Indeed. And bring her back here, too. A few of the ANBU would really like to know where she's been all this time."

Naruto saluted. "Understood!" As one, all heads turned to Kakashi.

"You don't need my permission," he said, opening his book again. "Go get ready."

"Sir!" they barked. Naruto, Sasuke, and Sai leapt out the open windows and capered away along the rooftops, and Sakura bowed respectfully to Tsunade before exiting out the door. Tsunade polished off her drink and turned reluctantly to her paperwork.

"The girl you knew six years ago isn't going to be the same as the ninja you'll be facing now." She addressed him without looking up. Kakashi closed his book.

"I got it," he said. "I don't intend to go easy on her."

"I hope not."

The silver-haired jonin bobbed his head once and poofed away.

-

**Next day, early afternoon. At the Gate in Konoha.**

"Are you all ready?" Genma asked. Four heads nodded imperceptibly, and the gate-keeper raised an eyebrow at Kakashi.

"We're good to go."

"Good luck to you, then!" The two large wooden doors swung inward.

Naruto shouted, "Let's go!" And they were off.

In a single file line, the team jumped quickly through the trees, their feet only briefly bouncing off the branches before soaring through the air again. A sense of apprehension had threaded its way through the group, and for reasons unknown to them they found themselves fully on their guard. With the exception of the soft _thud, thud, thud, thud, thump_, of their feet on the branches, one after the other, the forest was eerily silent.

Half an hour had passed before Kakashi called a halt. Grouping on one large limb overshadowed by a thick canopy of leaves, they crouched on their knees and waited while Kakashi sorted out what he was going to say.

Unrolling a piece of parchment, he dipped his fingers in a bubble of dripping tree sap and began mapping their position. "We're here." He jabbed a sticky finger at a small circle in the left-hand corner. "This is the stretch of forest we have left until we reach the border. It's only about an hours time span if we move quickly enough. That's the border line there. Once past that we're not in Konoha anymore and we have to be careful."

Naruto raised his hand slightly and interrupted. "Sensei, I think you've noticed by now. All of us are all ready on our toes-you wouldn't have made us stop like this if you weren't worried about something happening." Sakura and Sai nodded in agreement, and Sasuke scrunched his eyebrows together to show his opinion on the secrecy.

"I'm not sure how but Naruto seems to be the one who recognized it. I'm directing us as if we're about to be attacked because we may be. Moriko lived in this forest, she didn't have an actual house. She knows this area inside and out, and she'd be the first to know that we're here." Naruto glared at Kakashi but kept his mouth shut. "I want all of you to close your eyes and try to sense if anyone's here."

One by one, they all shut their eyes and concentrated. The air shimmered slightly with so many chakras influencing it. After a moment, Sasuke nodded.

"Someone's waiting for us."

Kakashi dabbed his finger in the sap again and drew out a battle plan. "Right. Now, here's what I want you to do..."

-

The whisper of the leaves betrayed the stirring puffs of air as Moriko listened, her head tilted to one side. Having entered the border a while ago, she was mildly surprised to pick up the bodies of five different chakras. They had steadily come closer to her position before stopping, but now they were moving again. She shrugged indifferently and hopped down to the forest floor. A squirrel scampered past her feet, and she waited.

A kunai whizzed through the trees, and she deflected it with a shuriken. Three more came form directly behind her, accompanied by and orange-clad shinobi. Moriko ducked and slashed her katana, effectively destroying the shadow clone. Pivoting on her feet, a loud CLANG sounded as she parried an attack from the boy in front of her.

She blinked, surprised he could hold against her katana with a kunai. "Who're you?"

"Peh, I should be asking you the same thing!" He pulled away and thrust at her middle, crouching low and backflipping out of reach. Moriko has dodged backwards, landing nimbly.

"Are you a Konoha ninja?"

He laughed. Despite the situation, it was a real laugh, happy that reached his eyes. "Yup! You're looking at the one and only Uzumaki Naruto! The Next Hokage!"

Moriko smiled. "Oh, that's good. I was hoping you'd be one."

The boy called Naruto seemed puzzled. "Why's that?"

"I'm looking for someone."

"Well, I won't tell you anything. I'm here to capture you, actually." He grinned and winked. "Nothing personal, but I have a mission to complete."

"Capture me?" Moriko mused. "Why do you need to do that?"

"Are you Moriko?"

"Huh?" How did he know her name?!

"Are you or not?"

"...Yes...How do you know my name?"

He shrugged. "Doesn't matter. You have to come back with us anyway."

"But why? I have nothing against you. I have nothing against Konoha in general," she paused, thinking quickly. "I haven't trained in a while, if a practice match is what you want. You certainly seem strong enough to give me a fair round..." She smiled. "Your chakra is huge."

"No." Naruto shook his head. "And it isn't me who wants you brought back to Konoha. Those are just my orders." Suddenly, he grinned. Moriko whipped around and swung the katana in a large X shape. The net that had been thrown at her crumpled, useless.

She snarled and leapt unto the nearest tree trunk, sticking there. "What is this?"

"Our mission," a voice answered her. Moriko had just enough time to block the punch aimed at her head.

Her eyes narrowed and she kicked out, springing off the branch and tucking her legs in close to her chest. The movement of her attacker brushed past her, and she landed in a crouch on another oak. A pink-haired kunoichi wearing black gloves swung at her, producing a shuriken in one hand. By now having jumped above the tree level, Moriko caught the weapon with ease and hurled it back. Sakura ducked, and Sai materialized behind her.

A scroll appeared out of nowhere in his hands, and five ink black beasts lunged at Moriko as she fell back down to earth. The girl's instincts kicked in and she immediately went into defensive mode.

"Looks like sensei was right!" Naruto crowed. "You won't even fight fake animals!" Running at her, crossed his right index and middle fingers over his left in the shape of a lower case't'.

"**Kage Bunshin no Justsu!"**

The ink beasts evaporated and Moriko found herself surrounded by clones. A lopsided, amused smile decorated her features.

"Shadow clones. Impressive." The Narutos gasped as one when she stepped forward and became a zipping, zig-zagging blur. Five clones had been done in with a puff of smoke before the rest of them could think to attack.

Shouts of frustration and surprise were heard all over the place as a clone punched at thin air, kicked at nothing, or ended up tackling a comrade. Confusion descended upon the ranks of copies. She was just to fast!

All at once, the remaining clones poofed out of sight, leaving the original Naruto panting, facing Moriko. She cocked her head at him in an interested way.

"I really don't want to kill you," she said. Sakura's hand went to her kunai pouch as Moriko's went to hers, but Sai stayed her hand.

"Wait," he whispered, "They should be here any second now."

"Who should?" The kunoichi looked up abruptly and laughed. "What, you though I couldn't hear you from here? I couldn't care less what your mission is. I'm only after one person. Do you know where he is?"

"Where who is?" Naruto's eyes narrowed.

The girl turned her gaze back on him and said calmly. "Uchiha Sasuke."

Naruto's jaw clenched slightly and Sakura's eyes opened a little. Moriko clasped her hands together delightedly.

"So you do! Where is he?" After a moment of thought, she added, "Is he the one in the tree?"

"No, that would be me." At the tickle of the shuriken grazing her head, Moriko tilted her gaze up to stare at Kakashi. "Sorry to disappoint you."

Every muscle in her body clenched. "You..." No one was quite ready for what she said next.

"...Who are you...???"

"How can you not remember him?" Sakura blurted.

"I..." A pained look crossed her face. "I don't remember...Anything...I think-I think-" She trailed off. Still staring at Kakashi, she whispered again, "Who are you?"

_Whoosh_.

Moriko snapped out of her revere and flipped backwards. Her katana flashed in the gleam of the sun and held the opposing blade of Sasuke's sword. Anger flashed in her eyes and her mouth twisted into an ugly scowl.

"And you are?" All of these people attacking her was really starting to have an effect on her mood.

"Don't say anything," Naruto muttered

Sasuke glared at him. "Why not? If she wants to find me that bad, then she should know who I am by now."

Silence.

A new light replaced the confusion swimming in her eyes. Moriko smiled, slow and leering. "Uchiha Sasuke."

"I'm your target."

"Yes. You killed Orochimaru, did you not?"

"I did. So what?"

She threw her head back and laughed. It was a light, disappointed laugh. "Well, considering that was my job, I can only see one alternative now. I'll have to kill you."


	3. Fight!

Disclaimer: What? You think I owned it? Crimony. : P

Okay, so, to start with, I know anybody who has me on their Alert list might've been expecting another chapter of my Bleach fanfiction. But I'm taking a quick break form those, pretty much until tomorrow, so just sit tight. XD Yeah, sorry again! And, enjoy!

**Part 3**

For a moment, no one said anything. Then, Sasuke's lips curled in the smallest of smiles.

"You want to kill me?"

"Do you think I'd just let something like that _go_?" Moriko snarled, suddenly angry. "You killed him! That was my job! Do you have _any _idea what that bastard did to me!?"

His eyes narrowed imperceptibly. "That's pathetic."

"Nothing more then your views on your brother, Itachi."

Sasuke froze. "What?"

She rolled her eyes, and imitated his husky, monotone voice. " 'I am an avenger. I will kill you to avenge the clan, Itachi!'"

"Shut up."

"Why should I?" she demanded. A thought popped into her brain, and she had to stop herself from grinning excitedly. "You're all on a mission to capture me, right? Well, I'll make this simple. Uchiha Sasuke, I challenge you to a duel."

Sakura interrupted, "That doesn't make this any easier, Moriko. Why don't you just come with us? We could help you!"

"I didn't finish. If you accept, then here are the terms. If you win, then I come with you without a fight. But if I win..." Now, a wicked smile was curling her lips, revealing her sharp white teeth. "Then I'll still come with you, and _my_ mission will be complete."

"That's crazy!" Sakura looked between Kakashi and Sasuke and back again. "We can't let them fight!"

"I accept," said Sasuke. "And I agree to your terms."

"Sasuke, no!"

Moriko's eye shone with something strange. "Perfect."

-

The two stood across from each other in a wide clearing, which Moriko had lead them too. Naruto, Sai, and Sakura stood off to one side, Sakura still trying to get Kakashi's attention. Kakashi himself stood in the dead center of the meadow, waiting until both the fighters looked ready.

He sighed. "You both know the terms. As a precaution, do either of you want to limit your abilities in this fight?"

Neither of them spoke, but regarded each other coldly.

"I say anything goes," Moriko's hand was already resting on the hilt of her wakizashi.

"Agreed," said Sasuke.

"Then you may begin." Kakashi jumped out of the way, regretting the words coming out of his mouth.

Immediately, Moriko darted forward and sent five shurikens flying. Sasuke caught them and threw three back. Moriko ducked, and sent a blast of chakra through her feet to turn on the speed.

A loud clash sounded as Sasuke blocked her wakizashi's slash, and he jumped backwards. The other two shuriken zipped from his finger tips and would've pierced their target, but Moriko still had the sword in her hand and smashed the projectiles away.

"You have to do better then that, Uchiha!"

Sasuke was running around to the side, making the handsigns as he did. "**Katon gyoukanyou no Justsu!**"

The immense fireball spun out and took shape in front of him, before exploding at the kunoichi with frightening speed. Backflipping madly out of the way, Moriko's eyes widened as Sasuke twitched his fingers and sent the torrent of flame following her.

"Tch..."

Suddenly, a boulder appeared the size of a tree, and Moriko held the jutsu long enough to bring the rock back...and chuck it at the raging inferno that was chasing her.

FWOOM!

The flames dissipated, and the rock crashed back to earth. Her fingers were already moving, creating the signals for the following attack.

"**Kaze!"**

Two spiraling balls of wind became visible, glowing with her chakra and becoming bigger...bigger...bigger, until they were each easily twice the size of the boulder.

"**Ho!" **

A flame flickered on each of her fingertips and swelled to life, mingling with the miniature tornados and flaring, intensely hot. She pulled her arms back, and Sasuke was prepared to summon a snake and avoid the elemental maelstrom. But that's not what happened.

Moriko was levitating, held up by her own jutsu. Five pairs of eyes watched as she soared above the tree level. The sound of the fire was by now loud enough to block out what she said, but it was easy enough to interpret.

"Now!"

The earth shook, and the spectators had to regain their balance or risk falling and being engulfed by the fire that was raining down on the clearing. Sasuke darted among the comets, twisting and turning, and at the same time trying to get a glimpse of his opponent. The dust cleared, and the flames stopped falling. The ground became steady again, and Sasuke looked up.

Where was she?

"**Henge no Justu!"**

He whirled around and skidded to the left to avoid the swiping claws of...

...of _what???_

"No way," Naruto gasped, "She's seen an Onbu?"

The creature, Moriko transformed, roared and jumped. Sasuke bit his thumb and swiped the blood on his palm. A purple snake speared under him, and he rode on his back as the both of them stayed out of reach.

Moriko laughed. Coming from the mouth of the Onbu she had transformed into, it sounded more like a hacking, wheezing cough. The dog-like, monkey-like, gigantic beast lumbered forward. In a poof of smoke, she was Moriko again, galloping towards him on all four legs.

The snake reared back and hissed, spitting poison at her eyes. Moriko jumped high above them and rolled to a landing on the other side.

Sasuke saw her thumb go to her teeth and got ready for whatever creature she was about to summon.

"**Kuchiyose no Justu!" **The feral, ginger-furred cat snarled and leapt at the snake. The two summoned beasts thrashed and swung at each other, hissing and growling.

"We're getting nowhere with this!" Moriko had her katana in hand, and called out to Sasuke. "Why not we finish it the old fashioned way?"

"Fine!"

At once, the cat and snake vanished, and Sasuke grabbed his katana. Moriko laughed crazily and unbuckled her other sword.

"I'll make this a bit easier for you and take off the wakizashi. I'll even give it to you, if you want."

"No thanks. You don't want to go easy on me."

She smirked at him. "I don't intend to." Her foot turned, and suddenly she was right in front of him.

"Kakashi wasn't kidding..." Sasuke stopped her blow, and both of their swords quivered with the strain of their wielders attempting to overcome each other. "You are fast."

"I've heard you aren't so slow, yourself," she muttered.

"I'm not."

They glared at each other for a nanosecond more, before they vanished and then simultaneously appeared on the other side of the meadow.

Neither of them could seem to win the upper hand. They exchanged a few blows, vanished, and appeared again in a different spot, still fighting. Once, they emerged directly in front of Naruto, Sakura, Sai and Kakashi, and Naruto gasped as he noticed that Sasuke was using his Sharingan.

"They...they're both so _quick_," Sakura said, breathless. "It just matters who's faster!"

"Indeed." Kakashi closed his one eye and sighed. "That's exactly what it's come down to. And we haven't even seen either of them use more than three different attacks."

"You know," Sai said abruptly, "I've been wondering. If she's this fast now, how fast was she before?" He turned to look at Kakashi. The silver haired jonin didn't answer right away.

"This isn't her top speed," he muttered.

"Huh?"

"She was this fast...six years ago."

Naruto's eyes widened, and he opened his mouth to yell out a warning.

"Sasuke!"

Moriko stopped moving, and Sasuke matched her pace. She grinned. The only trace that she had ever moved at all was the flash of her blade in the sun, and the droplet of blood on Sasuke's cheek.

Everything seemed to stand still. Moriko twisted the neck of his shirt in her fist, and lifted him an inch or so off the ground.

"Now..."

Naruto began to move forward, and Sakura had already thrown the kunai. Sasuke's hand twitched, as if it was still grasping the sword that was protruding from the ground.

Moriko's eyes narrowed and she plunged the sword at his chest. "Die, Uchiha!"

_Swink! CLANG! _

"I'm afraid that's...enough, Moriko." Kakashi said.

"Y-you..."

Sakura ran to Sasuke's side, and crouched beside hin where he was sitting on the grass. The blood was just beginning to pour form the various cuts on his arms, and another drop oozed from the slit on his cheek. He sat there, staring at Kakashi as Sakura began administering to his wounds.

"I can't let you kill Sasuke. He's still part of my team," Kakashi went on. The point of her katana was stuck, held fast between two wedged shuriken in his hands.

"W-we..." she snarled, getting her wits back. "We had an agreement! I just beat him! Those were the terms!"

"I know." He pulled back, tossed the shuriken at her almost lazily, and socked her hard in the gut. "I'm sorry."

"G...gah..." She slid to the ground, and the chakra around Kakashi's fist flickered and died. "We...had an agreement..."

"You'll have to come back with us either way. Sai?"

Sai hurried forward, passing the ropes to Kakashi, along with a small piece of paper. He kneeled by her and grabbed her hand, digging into her wrists and short circuiting the nerves.

"Augh!" her entire body jolted as the jonin did the same to her other hand. Sai bit back a wince. Having your reactions cut off was never painless.

Kakashi knotted the ropes tightly and slapped the bit of paper onto her forehead. "I don't like breaking deals, so I am sorry about that part. But as I said, I can't let you kill him. As leader of this mission that wouldn't be good, would it?"

"You..." she snarled, "You just think you're so tough, don't you? These ropes can't hold me, and whatever you just did to my arms won't last forever. I can feel it coming back already! You expect to get me to Konoha without a fight? The deal's off, so you'll all be dead by the time the day's over!" She strained against the bonds and twisted, wriggling her body and attempting to break free.

"I don't. That's why I brought that." He tapped the paper still stuck to her forehead with two fingers, and suddenly the kanji on it became visible.

_Seal_, it said.

Moriko shrudded and bit back a yelp. Now she truly couldn't move. "D-damn you..."

"Naruto, can you handle her?" Naruto nodded and hefted her up over his back. Kakashi looked towards Sakura and Sasuke. "Well fought, anyway, Sasuke. Sai, can you carry him?"

"I don't need to be carried." The Uchiha stood up, ignoring Sakura's protests, and freed his sword. Sheathing it, he eyed Kakashi. "Can we please go now? The mission's complete, isn't it?"

"Yeah. The battle plan didn't exactly work out right, but we're done." Kakashi stepped in front of Naruto and looked at Moriko through the corner of his eye. "You shouldn't be cursing us just yet. You should wait until we give you to the ANBU for that."

As they set off, Moriko broke out in a stream of guttural snarls and roars and sounds of all kinds. Being that she was right by his ear, when she started swearing in human langue, Naruto actually winced.

"Oi, Kakashi-sensei. Where-ever she's been all this time, they had some pretty nasty swear words."

"Nah," said Kakashi. "She knew those before, too."


	4. Questions

Disclaimer: ExplosiveNoteNinja doesn't own Naruto, Kishimoto-san does

**Disclaimer: **ExplosiveNoteNinja doesn't own Naruto, Kishimoto-san does.

-

**Chapter 4:**

**Part 4**

The walk through the sighing forest wasn't long, considering the ninja word for 'walking' was actually still pretty fast. Moriko continually spat curses in not only human, but every beast tongue she knew at Naruto's ear. The Uzumaki arrived in Konoha twitching slightly as the gates gusted open and the two Chuunin greeted them.

Kakashi waved a hand cheerily to ward off their inquires as to the mission as Moriko started spitting at them in what sounded like cat. Naruto hadn't thought he could be so happy a mission was over when they finally barged into the Hokage's office and he dumped Moriko unceremoniously to the floor.

"Crimony!" he exclaimed, massaging his shoulder and winced as Moriko glared up at him and tried to wriggle out of her bonds again. She snarled something that didn't sound too friendly as she received a jolt of pain from the seal. Naruto blew hair out of his eyes and sent Tsunade a glare. "Stop smirking, Baa-chan. If you had so much information, you could've warned us that she'd be cursing a blue streak in so many languages."

Moriko looked up, startled. "You had _files _on me?"

Tsunade ignored both of them and turned to Kakashi. "I see you succeed. Good work."

Kakashi shrugged and dug in his pocket for his familiar orange book, opening it to his favorite page with a flick of his wrist. Moriko saw it and stared, something sounding in the back of her head.

_Where the Hel have I seen that before? _She thought, before the also familiar stab of pain cut off her attempt to pinpoint the elusive memory. She narrowed her eyes. "Dammit," she muttered. Sai glanced at her.

"What?"

Moriko stuck her tougue out at him insolently and in a very childlike way. "None o' your business, artsy."

Tsunade rolled her eyes as irritation crossed Sasuke's usually placid face. She had already looked at his nearly-vanished wounds and concluded that a fight had ensued, not bothering to ask immediately why. "Artsy?"

"Show your captors some respect," Sasuke snapped at her. Moriko smirked in the same kidlike way and stuck her tongue out at him, too.

"Oh, yes," she muttered mutinously under her breath, "Because you always gave _your_ captors so much effin' respect."

"And what would _you_ know about that, fugitive?"

"_Fugitive?_" Moriko snorted in disbelief and struggled to stand again even as Sakura clamped a hand down on her shoulder warningly. "_You're _calling _me _a _fugitive_? That's rich! Just blinking rich! At least I wasn't _willingly _snatched away from wherever it was I belonged!"

Naruto, Sai, and Sakura exchanged glances. Things were about to get very complicated. It was nearly taboo to speak of Sasuke's runaway to Otogakure little more than three years ago. And more importantly...

"How do you know?" Sasuke demanded his already black eyes darkening dangerously. Moriko spat at him again in cat.

"Oh, I know plenty, Uchiha! Don't doubt that!" she snarled, curling her lips up to bare her sharp, almost feline teeth ferociously. Sasuke's shoulders tensed, and Kakashi's eye flicked to watch.

"Watch how you talk to me." Sasuke's hand was lightly clenched—even now, he would dismiss the insults as the ravings of a madwoman, not to be taken seriously, unless...

"Oh? Sorry, I'll have to remember that next time you ask somebody for shuriken training..." Moriko sneered, a strange light appearing in her eyes again. "..._Ottoto." _

In the next nano second, three things happened. Tsunade stood up so quickly at her desk that a glass of ink spilt over onto her recently complete led papers, Shizune and Sakura were suddenly constraining Moriko by her shoulders as she kicked and writhed furiously, and Kakashi and Sai were holding Sasuke back as he reached for his katana and strained to break free.

"Let me go!" Moriko snarled, twisting even more furiously. "You want another fight, Uchiha?! They won't save you this time! C'mon, get off me! Move!"

"I'll skewer you!" Sasuke spat as Kakashi bent his arm the wrong way and knocked the sword form his grasp. "Don't talk like you know me, dammit! Don't fuck with my mind! I' killed Itachi! He's dead and that's the end of it! Shut up!"

"_Stop this!" _Tsunade roared, and the room settled immediately. Moriko was glaring at her, still straining against Shizune and Sakura but not nearly as hard now. Her left eyebrow was twitching. Naruto was staring at all of them, stunned at how that one sentence had completely torn down Sasuke's defenses.

"Tsunade-baachan," he said, wrenching his gaze away form the two enraged shinobi, one captive, one not. "What're you going to do with her?"

"Let me, go, I hope," muttered Moriko. Tsunade turned to her sharply.

"No," she responded curtly, righting the ink container and casting a disgusted look at her ruined paperwork. "Perhaps you can go once you've answered some questions."

Moriko furrowed her brows together, already knowing what the message was behind Tsunade's meaning. "Questions? You lot are going to interrogate me?"

Tsunade let the ghost of a smile grin wryly on her face. "Exactly."

Unexpectedly, Moriko suddenly let out a sharp bark of laughter that made Naruto jump. "Are you serious? Good luck! You have no idea what I've gone through in the past six years! A few hours slammed up with some ANBU won't make any difference."

Tsunade didn't let any change show on her face. She waved a hand airly, and a trio of ANBU members appeared. Kakashi nodded to them casually, while Sai bowed to his superiors. Moriko raised an eyebrow as a small _ping_ of pain pricked her mind. Three ANBU? What did _that _have to do with anything?

"Please take her to the appropriate place," Tsunade instructed the ANBU crisply. They nodded and trotted forward to grab the ropes holding Moriko and heft her upwards. She snapped at them.

"I'm telling you, you'll get nothing out of this. Just let me finish my task and be on my way. I'll never touch this village again."

"Sorry," one of the ANBU, clearly in charge, told her in a monotonous voice, "But we cannot let you be responsible for any harm to our village. You'll just have to come with us. This will go much more smoothly if you'll come quietly. We don't want to hurt you, but we will if we have too."

"Yeah, right," Moriko muttered, casting a glance filled with bitter and wry amusement over her shoulder at Naruto. "Hey, kid?"

"What?"

She broke out in to a lopsided grin as the ANBU hopped up onto the sill of the window. Before they all vanished, she simply said, "You'll have to teach me how you can possibly put up with Uchiha's."

Then they had shot away, reappearing on a rooftop to the west and disappearing in a poof of smoke. Naruto's eyes shone with determination as he turned with a stubborn look on his face to Kakashi.

"Sensei. Tell us what happened. Now."

After a moment, Kakashi silently marked the worn page in his book and closed his eyes.

"Fine."

-

Moriko was most certainly _not _going to let these men think they could defeat her.

She was probing delicately in her mind, searching for any unsealed source of chakra...aside fomr _that _option, of course. Finally, she caught a hold of it—just the slightest whisper of energy, about to evaporate at the front of her chakra reserves.

_C'mon...c'mon...c'mon..._

_Got it!_

Outwardly, Moriko grinned and twisted her neck (somewhat painfully) to look at one of the ANBU carrying her as they treaded softly through a back alley of Konoha. "Hey. Bird mask. Got a sec?"

The ANBU didn't even look at her. "What is it?"

"You're going the wrong way."

"Excuse me?"

"Yeah. And you aren't holding on to my ropes right."

Starting to become wary of what she was saying, the ANBU dropped his gaze fractionally form inside his mask. "Oh?"

"Uh-huh." Moriko grinned wider and lashed out with her thin band of chakra. The ANBU member let out a sound like, 'Urk!', and dropped her, staggering back and clutching at his chin. The other two members promptly tackled Moriko, reinforcing the seal taped to her forehead and tightening the ropes harshly. Moriko winced and complained, "Hey, hold on, take it easy—anyway, I missed. I was aiming for his nose."

The ANBU didn't say anything back to her as she continued to go on about how, on his mask, it was just so _long_, obviously deserving to be hit with something. They quickened their pace as the slipped through the streets to the ANBU's meeting place and interrogation room, Moriko continuing to chattered and causally throw insults at them.

They said nothing, but unanimous as the ANBU were, they were all thinking, _How did Kakashi-san put up with her for three years?_

_-_

"She lived in the forest," Kakashi said solemnly, staring at a point on the far wall with his one visible eye as Naruto, Sakura, and Shizune listened raptly, TonTon oinked as he sat down to hear, Sai tilted his head, Tsunade sat back down again and even Sasuke stopped scowling to look up at him. "She found me one day, when she was only..." he paused, as if remembering. "Six years old, that's right. About three months earlier, I had thought I had felt someone watching Gai and I as we fought—I won that round, using my Sharingan to stop on of Gai's attacks. But I couldn't see her."

"What?" Sakura asked in disbelief. "You sensed her presence but didn't _see _her?"

Kakashi shook his head. "That's not it. I only _thought _that someone was there. I didn't sense her at all." Naruto and Sakura gasped. Sasuke raised an eyebrow scornfully, not believing it. Sai furrowed his brows together. TonTon snuffled unhappily.

"Say what?!" Naruto demanded, getting more riled by the second. "How could you not sense an eavesdropping six-year-old? Weren't a Jounin by then, anyway?"

"I was," Kakashi answered him, his voice not changing. "But self-concealment was natural to her. More even than her speed." He sighed. "I just don't know what happened after she disappeared," he murmured, in an uncharacteristically quiet voice. The others had to strain their ears to hear him before Kakashi spoke louder again, resuming his neutral tone. "Well, she asked me to train her—Like I told you before, the challenge was for her to take my book fomr me. And she did."

"I'd still sure as Hel like to know how," Naruto muttered. Sakura nodded mutely. Kakashi didn't acknowledge them and carried on.

Kakashi cast his gaze towards the ceiling, as if looking for something there. "So I trained her. After a while, she mastered weapons, and her speed was already incredible. Once, she found a pair of swords. She kept them hidden and I hardly ever saw them for weeks, then one day she showed up to training wearing them, and they looked brand new. Although they were _way_ to big for her." Kakashi smiled with vague amusement at some distant memory. "Eventually, she learned to make their large size work to her advantage, and the day she learned to channel her chakra through them to use techniques, I knew her element type was wind."

"Like me," Naruto interrupted, surprised. Kakashi glanced at him.

"Yeah, like you. Although the way she used it, it looked as though she'd known too for years and years..." he shrugged noncommittally. "It was uncanny. And then the fact that she could use every other chakra type, too..."

"But that's not possible!" Sakura cried, staring at him. "Sensei, you've got to be lying! Only a few Jounin level ninja and some others can use more than one chakra type, and then they only have two!"

"I know. That's why it was so odd..." Kakashi trailed off, mentally editing what he was going to say. "Water was her weakest type, but the fact that she could use it at all was impressive. A little while later, I gave her a Konoha headband." Kakashi's gaze turned somber. "I still have it with me."

"But...but...but..." Naruto was addled. "You gave it to her. Didn't she take it?"

"She did," Kakashi confirmed. She wore it the way you saw in the picture, across her chest, just under neck, tied at her back under her arms. After three years of missions and training with her, she never let it out of her sight."

"Then...why...??"

Kakashi looked at him, the yellow-haired boy with aspirations to become Hokage. He shook his head in a small, sad way from side to side. "It was the only thing left I could find of her after she disappeared."

-

"I've. Told. You," Moriko said again, letting ech word out slowly and attempting to stifle her arising frustration (And failing sadly). "I don't know _anything_, okay? All I have is one stupid memory, but that's it. The rest of it is gone. All I know is my name, my techniques, and the fact that I need to kill the Uchiha headcase living here. Now can you let me _go_?"

Moriko had been being asked the same questions by the ANBU operatives over and over again for the past half-hour, and she had given them the same answers, entirely truthfully; She just didn't remember. Tsunade stood, half-shrouded in shadows on the far side of the room. Mentally, she checked back in on the feed of words her clone in the Hokage's office was sending to her—everything Kakashi was saying and the slight shift in his actions. Frowning, Tsunade tried to link the spoken flashback to the stubborn girl, but without success. Sighing she stepped forward and crouched down until she was eye level with the irate captive.

"Look," she said, as soothing as she thought need be (the effect was till Tsunade-like and not all that helpful). "Tell us what we need to know, and you can leave. We'll help you the way we can and you won't have to kill anybody. If I can convince the counsel, we might even let you back into Konoha."

"Tsunade-sama—!" one of the younger ANBU said, stepping forward alarmingly. There were eight of them in the room now, not including the visitor, and Inuzuka with two large nindogs who was watching silently form a corner, also leaving out the Hokage herself and Moriko. And older operative clamped a hand on the younger man's shoulder. She whispered to him, "Just listen. Hokage-sama knows what she's doing, and we may need this info."

"I heard that," Moriko snapped, wriggling so she could face their direction. "Don't think I'm deaf. My senses are at least eleven times sharper than yours, anyway. And I told you..." she added, turning back to Tsunade, "_I don't freaking know anything about where I've been. _Okay?"

"That is ridiculous," one of the ANBU stated, fixating her with a stare form behind his mask. Moriko didn't flinch. "How is it one does not remember where they have been for the past six years? And did you not hear what Tsunade-sama just offered you? A chance to come back."

"Okay, one," Moriko began informing him, thoroughly fed up with all this. "I don't remember because my memory is _dead_. Go blame that glasses-wearing silver-haired medical-ninja asshole for that. And two, why should I care about being offered to live here? What connections to this place to I have except to kill the Uchiha?"

Tsunade raised an eye brow, and the ANBU mulled over what Moriko had just said. Tsunade spoke. "What do you mean? Of course you have connections here. You _are _Moriko, the one who trianed for three years with Kakashi, right?"

On the name, 'Kakashi', Moriko visibly flinched, her entire body twitching as though someone had tried to tickle her. She grimanced and clenched her bound hands behind her back. "_Ow, _dammit!"

"Ow?"

"I. Don't. Re-mem-ber. An-y-thing," Moriko gritted out, trying to suppress the wave of pain that roiled in her mind. "I'm just Moriko Who Was Stuck With The Bastards from Oto for who-knows-how-long. A lengthy title, but that's it. _Okay?_"

Tsunade wasn't listening. Instead, she and the senior ANBUs had exchanged a glance. Oto? As in, Otogakure? _Orochimaru's _Otogakure? Well, if that was the case, then the Case of The Missing Memory wasn't so far-fetched, after all. Tsunade stood up.

"Tsunade-sama?" one nin inquired quietly. "Should we try to recover her memory for this?" Moriko whipped around and nearly toppled her chair over to stare at the speaker with astonishment. Even though her chakra was spent, a trepid breeze tripped across the room's walls and sent the candle-cast shadows dancing. The girl's brown eyes were wide, but in the glinting light, they almost looked...green?

"What?" she demanded incredulously, blinking and trying to twist free. "No. You all don't understand. I've _tried_, okay? A lot of times, I've tried. Everytime I do, it's just...pain. There's only one memory left, and that's of when I lost it...when they took it form me..._fucking Kabuto_!" She snarled, suddenly angry again and struggling harder to break free so that three of the ANBU had to grab the edges of her chair and make sure the ropes hadn't been loosened. "I was supposed to kill them! I was! I was going to! I was looking for them when I heard that bastard Uchiha did it! That was _my job! _I can't recall it, but...you...you...you don't know half of what they did to me!"

Tsunade came to a descion quickly and stepped forward, signaling for the ANBU ninja to hold her chair down tightly. "Moriko, I'm going to try and help you get your memory back. It's just some medical ninjutsu. Don't be alarmed."

"I'm not _scared_, okay?!" Moriko shouted, glaring daggers at Tsunade. "But whatever you do will only make it worse. Don't bother."

"Hold her down, in case..."

"Are you _listening _to me, Hokage-baachan?! Well?!"

"Are you ready, Tsunade-sama?"

"I'm good..."

"Hey! I said no! Back off, damn you, just let me outta here—"

Tsunade made a swift handsign and muttered the word, "Kai!" as her and lit up with flaring blue chakra. Moriko abruptly stopped struggling at stared at it, something new and terrified lighting up her eyes.

"I'm going to have to do some digging to find your memory," Tsunade intoned, not noticing the frozen stiffness of the girl's muscles as she lowered her hand to Moriko's face. "...But you'll be better off for it, I promise you—"

"Keep away from me!" Moriko shoved backwards so hard with her feet that the chair was ripped out of the grasp of the ANBU and she was sent toppling backwards to the floor, scrambling to try and right herself and push herself farther against the wall. Her eyes were large and full of blind fear as the stayed locked onto Tsunade's hand. Her entire body was tense against the binds, looking for all the world like a rabbit about to flee.

For the next moment, no one made a move towards her. Moriko was completely still, not moving her eyes away form their frightened gaze on Tsunade's flaming medical chakra.

"Just...keep that away from me," she whispered. She snapped her eyes shut, squinching them hard and clenching her jaws together as a shiver rolled through her frame and a small, strangled cry escaped her teeth. She whispered again, "Keep it away."

After a second, slowly, Tsunade lowered her hand to fall limply against her thigh, letting the medical chakra gutter out on its own. Slowly, their hands raised to show they wouldn't harm her, the ANBU stole forward again and hauled Moriko's chair back upright. Moriko was staring around at all of them blankly, as if she didn't know where she was anymore. The ANBU undid the binds on her wrists, but she made no move to get away, only massaged them detachedly.

Having seen that all chance for decent questions had just leapt out the window (even though there wasn't one in the dim room), the ANBU murmured formal goodbyes to Tsunade, grabbed a light hold of the dazed Moriko, and disappeared. Tsunade nodded after them and started up the stairs.

"Kakashi," she muttered to herself as she left, "I think you have a lot more explaining to do."

Behind her, the Inuzuka ruffed to the two nindogs once and also vanished.

-

**Author's Note: **I apologize to those of you wanting more of Walk Like a Shinobi, I'll be updating that soon, I promise...My friend was bugging me to update this. **Eye roll **It's still on hiatus, so don't expect frequent chapters. Oh, yeah, and anyone want to guess Moriko's problem with medical chakra? **Grins**

Moriko: DAMN YOU KABUTO!!1

Naruto: Wow.

Kakashi: Told you.

So, yeah...bye!


	5. Living Arrangements

**Disclaimer: **I'm not Kishimoto. I'm a nearly-14-year-old American girl in Virginia. Go away.

Okay, don't hurt me. It's not my fault that I haven't updated anything yet, aside from this right here. And the only reason I'm updating this is because my crazy sister forced me too, dammit. -.-"

My computer won't start. I swear to you this is not an excuse. The message that shows up on the screen says this: 'We are sorry for the inconvenience, but Windows ahs failed to start properly. Please choose a mode to start it in—if you know what has caused this issue, please select Safe Mode or one of it's alternatives accordingly. If you do not know what has started this problem, please start the computer in Last Known good Configuration (the setup last used to start this system).'.

It's pissing me the Hel off, because I've tried every kind of mode to start it with and it. Keeps. Dying. On. Me. It won't even go past the loading page! So, I'm typing this on my mother's computer. I hate using her laptop for word. It randomly takes the little thing that marks where you are and drops it back a paragraph. So this is going to be aggravating. I hope my dad gets home soon so I can update Walk Like a Shinobi on his.

-.-" Seriously. Not. Amusing!

**Wayward Shurikens**

**Chapter 5**

**Outside Konoha General Hospital, Front door**

The dazed look in her eyes hadn't left as Moriko allowed the pair of ANBU to walk her into the hospital. As they approached the building, she did look up to read the kanji above the door, but her only reaction was to frown vaguely and mutter something about an infirmary. When one of her escorts asked what she had said, she only blinked at him distantly and remained silent.

Inwardly, the ANBU member who had questioned her sighed as she hesitated at the front entrance. Something was decidedly…_wrong_…with Moriko, and not just because of her episode earlier. Mentally, the man made a note to take it up with Hokage-sama and sempai later. After all, Yamato was nothing if not careful.

After slipping by the front desk, Moriko stopped again and frowned at the stairs ahead of them. After a moment of hesitation, her face smoothed out once more and she hopped after the member who had stopped to wait for her. Yamato was behind her, and contemplating whether he'd have to just knock her out anyway, just in case.

They were on the top floor when Moriko stopped again. This time, though, it went unnoticed as a nurse passed the key to the room to the first ANBU member and pushed open the door, bowing hurriedly to them before trotting away down the hall.

"You'll be staying here for a while," the first informed her, motioning to the small, plain room beyond. The frown deepened on Moriko's face, but she made no move forward. "You will be brought food and the door to your room will be guarded at all times. Hokage-sama may want to speak with you, and you will be expected to behave. Understand?"

After a second, Moriko turned to face him, her lips pursed. Speaking for the first time since leaving the interrogation room, she asked him, "Why?"

Yamato blinked, and the other man almost hesitated. Then, he said, "For your own safety."

Moriko's facial expression switched noticeably from bemused and questioning to irritated. Her movements seemed jerky as she folded her arms across her chest. "_Why_, though? I can take care of myself just fine, thanks."

"You will—"

"What do you think would make your stay more comfortable?" Yamato asked her, his expression serious behind the cat mask. Moriko stared blankly at him for a minute before shaking her head and muttering, "De ja vu…"

"What?"

"Huh? Nothing." Moriko blinked twice at him again. "Nothing. Comfortable? What, like a hotel?" She snorted derisively. "I never stay in hotels. Is there a forest or something around here"

Yamato furrowed his brow, but told her smoothly, "Of course. Didn't you come through it earlier?"

Moriko shook her head. "I have no idea where 'here' is. How should I tell if there's a forest?" She cocked her head and inhaled deeply. "It does smell woodsy, though…" She must have guessed what they were about to ask, so she jerked her head to the left of the hallway they were in and added, "I can smell it through that open window."

"…To answer your question, yes," Yamato said, treading carefully with his words. "There is a forest here…"

"Can I stay there instead?"

"No, I'm sorry," the other man interjected hollowly. "You'll have to stay here."

Moriko frowned at him again, annoyed. "I hate staying under a roof. What did I do? No, nevermind. I also hate it when I have these headaches. I can never remember anything…Story of my life. Can you just tell me where I am?"

Deciding she must truly mean it, Yamato paused and told her, "Konohagakure no Satou."

Moriko took a moment to stare at him, and then gasped as she swayed on her feet. A sudden wave of pain rocked her, and she snarled, "Shit—!", before another growl was torn out of her throat and she slumped forward.

Bewildered, Yamato and his comrade supported her and ferried her through the door. Laying her out on the single cot in the room, they glanced at each other. The girl must have been having some nightmares as she sank further into unconsciousness. The expression of pain on her face almost made it look like it was real.

-

**Hokage's Office**

"She left her headband?!" Naruto gasped, shocked. He touched his own unconsciously, knowing truthfully that he'd even attack an s-ranked jounin with a giant sword to get his hitae-ate back if it was taken from him. He couldn't comprehend why anyone would willingly leave theirs behind (even though Sasuke had, too.).

Kakashi nodded almost sadly. "Yes, she did. Or it was taken from her, or she unwillingly was separated from it. It was splattered with blood when I arrived."

"Blood…" Sakura narrowed her eyes, trying to piece it together. The information supplied told her only that there had been a fight, but her gut told her it was something more than that. "Was there any kind of commotion, sensei? Why weren't you there with her?"

"That's a good question," Sai added, backing her up. Sasuke 'hned' characteristically, although he was paying rapt attention. It was clear to him that the fugitive girl was too rowdy to stay confined, even with ANBU guards (which he knew she was likely to have at this point). Meaning he would run into her again. Meaning next time, he'd be the one to finish the fight. Orochimaru had told him once, _The best way to take out a difficult enemy is to understand them. And that means, to know how to exploit their weakness. _Sasuke already had a fair idea of what her weakness was, but any backround information could be worth it.

Kakashi looked at them all blandly. Tsunade and Shizune had recently left, apparently having things to do elsewhere. TonTon had stayed, and was sitting at Kakashi's feet, snuffling at him to continue the story. Pinching his nose between his thumb and index fingers, Kakashi closed his eyes and exhaled. He opened them again and stared at his charges (and TonTon) seriously. "I am about to give you details that only one other person knows. Keep it that way. Understand?"

Solemnly, they nodded.

"Good."

-

Shizune smiled at the two ANBU stationed outside the doorway to the room. Bowing to them once, they returned the gesture and stepped aside.

"Be careful," Yamato told her as she pushed the door open. "We don't know if she's awake or asleep. For the past few minutes, we heard a lot of snarling and growling, but we're positive it was a nightmare. She's goes quiet, though, so she may be awake. If she is, she may be aware of herself again.Watch your step."

Shizune nodded again curtly and assured them, "I'll be fine. Don't let anyone else in. If she's asleep, let's keep it that way."

"Hai!" the second man barked, tossing Shizune a quick salute as she slipped through the cracked doorway and closed it behind her again.

Casting a quick glance at Moriko, who was stationary on the cot, Shizune assured herself that the girl really was asleep. She padded silently over to the monitor, connecting a few different wires and snapping the crocodile clips into place.

Slipping over to the side of Moriko's bed, she lifted the trailing sheets gently off the floor and reached for the small, wooden box beneath the bedframe. It grated scratchily against the floor as she tugged it into the open.

Moriko's eyes snapped open, and she jerked upright, nostrils flaring. Shizune froze, bent over to lift the box onto the bedside table. Moriko stared at Shizune and Shizune stared at her. Shizune took a deep breath and straightened herself, leaving the box on the floor. Just as she was about to speak, a subtle change seemed to take over Moriko's exrpression—her brown eyes darkened to opaque hazel, bordering on green. Her eyes widened, and she snarled at Shizune. He hand flew to her hip, grasping for her sword. She stared blankly at the empty space where her wakizashi and its sheath should be. Turning her gaze back on Shizune, she inhaled once and glared fixedly at the medical ninja. Her voice was low and quiet.

"Who are you?"

-

**A very pissed off Author's Note: **That's it. I'm stopping here.

…Ne-chan, I better not here any crap about how short it was. I gave you a cliffhanger, didn't I? So there.

Okay, c'mon! This laptop is pissing me off! I'm outta here…

…And yes I meant it when I said I'd update WLaS today. Just wait till my dad gets home, alright? Sheesh.

Well…bye…


End file.
